An Ohio man faces more than a decade in prison for the death of his girlfriend’s teenage son with autism, who withered without food while being restrained in a 56-degree basement.
William Turnage, 59, was sentenced on Monday to 11 to 15 1/2 years in prison for the death of 16-year-old Jeremiah Moore, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.
On July 31, he pleaded guilty to both involuntary manslaughter and endangering children. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge against him in exchange for his testimony against 53-year-old Tamara Moore, Jeremiah’s mother and Turnage’s girlfriend at the time of the boy’s death. Moore is scheduled to go on trial for murder on September 29.
During Monday’s hearing, prosecutors described the boy’s horrific living conditions, according to a courtroom report by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Jeremiah died on February 6, 2024, while strapped to a cot in a basement utility room at his home in Springfield Township, a Cincinnati suburb. Prosecutors said he died with no food in his stomach and was wearing only a “absolutely disgusting” diaper.
According to prosecutors, the boy had marks on his wrists and neck indicating he had been restrained, and he was unable to stand up in the utility closet where he was kept. Cops reportedly measured the basement temperature at 56 degrees.
According to police, Jeremiah was nonverbal and relied solely on adults to care for him.
“I’ve never seen a case that’s this horrific with the suffering that they put him through and him not being able to even verbalize the pain or suffering that he was going through,” Springfield Township police Sgt. Rami Khayo reportedly said.
Jeremiah’s maternal grandmother cared for him during his early years. However, prosecutors say his grandmother’s care deteriorated after her death.
Turnage apologized, stating that he wished he had been more “proactive.” He also claimed that he “wasn’t aware” of the boy’s plight.
Jody Luebbers, the Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge, was having none of it.
“You’re nothing but a monster, sir,” she declared, according to the Enquirer. “You’re going to have to live with this for the rest of your life.”
Moore, as previously reported by Law&Crime, was arrested at her home on April 12, 2024, about two months after her son died. Police continued to search for Turnage, and he was apprehended and detained four days later.
Following the arrests, then-Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers issued a statement vowing to ensure justice for the victim.
“Words alone cannot describe the level of depravity displayed by these two defendants,” she told WXIX, a local Fox affiliate. “My heart is broken for this little boy.
He was mistreated like an animal, forced to live in a basement closet, unwanted, unloved, and denied the most basic necessities.”
“I promise that we will do whatever is necessary to ensure there is justice for J.J. and that both of these individuals are held accountable for what they have done,” said the reporter.
